CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The attorney general's office is advising against issuing identification cards this summer to New Hampshire residents eligible to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana for medicinal purposes under a new state law.

The attorney general argues New Hampshire's law only allows the patients to obtain marijuana from dispensaries which won't be operating for at least another year. The Department of Health and Human Services intends to abide by the attorney general's advice and wait to issue the cards, which is upsetting advocates and the law's sponsors.

They argue the cards protect holders from arrest if they buy the drug on the illegal market. They say people who benefit from marijuana use shouldn't have to wait.

Others say the cards provide no immunity, but show progress in implementing the law.